WENATCHEE — Columbia River Brush Benders have been painting sets for the Short Shakespeareans for at least 10 years, said spokeswoman Marilyn Michel. This year they are painting a two-sided castle that’s about 12-feet-by-8-feet, with an interior and exterior scene, and a backdrop forest scene measuring 36-feet-by-8 feet for “As You Like It.” It’ll take 18 painters about 150 hours to finish the work.

Until about four years ago, Martha Flores’ “Flowering Consciousness” — a 5-foot canvas bursting with bright, tropical blues and greens — never ventured outside of her home. Painter Russ Hepler put away his abstract works in a rented storage unit.

LEAVENWORTH — Those old mattress springs in the garage could be a dress. And that smelly carpet scrap? A work of art, given a little time and creativity. Icicle Arts is accepting submissions to a juried exhibition opening in September called, “Recycled Art.”

WENATCHEE — Walking tour maps to the 2009-2010 Art on the Avenues display are now available from rack locations, including the Fifth Street access to the Loop Trail, the trail sculpture garden and the Wenatchee Center fountain plaza. The brochure lists all 74 pieces in the public art project, divided into zones for easier strolling. The nonprofit Art on the Avenues plans to add a new sculpture, Kevin Pettelle’s “Ped,” to the sculpture garden in October. Other map ...

Each year, the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center presents the Wenatchee Valley Living Treasure award to a person or group from the community who has made significant contributions in line with the museum’s mission — to celebrate and preserve the history, arts, sciences and rich diversity of this region and its people.

WENATCHEE — Artists and members at Two Rivers Gallery say lofty inspiration and high-quality craftsmanship have a new partner — low prices that could have some Christmas shoppers remaking their gift lists. Customers at the downtown venue’s first holiday art sale can browse hundreds of art works — jewelry, ceramics, photos, fiber arts and paintings — all priced below $100. This includes scores of pieces, by some of the Wenatchee Valley’s top artists, that cost less than a pair of Snuggies or a trio of Zhu Zhu Pet hamsters, both ...

Write On The River, the writers’ conference founded by Kay Kenyon in 2006, brings bestselling fantasy author Terry Brooks to give its keynote address when it opens May 15 at Wenatchee Valley College. Brooks first gained notice with the “Shannara” fantasy series, and later branched out into other series. His latest novel is “A Princess of Landover,” published in August. He also wrote the novelization of “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.”

Kay Kenyon’s quartet of novels “The Entire and the Rose” deals with two parallel universes, each struggling to survive at the expense of the other, and the people who travel between them. Kind of like publishing. After 10 novels in the science fiction genre, on the eve of the Jan. 26 publication of her new book “Prince of Storms,” Kenyon is planning her jump into another fictional field: fantasy.